Something changed in his eyes but whatever it was just intensified the feeling already there. It went from scary-but-under-control to totally-out-of-control.

My stomach did a clench because I wasn’t sure what was going to happen next.

His hands went to my hips and pulled mine against his, then his arms wrapped around me, one hand going into my hair. He tugged it, not gentle but as if he couldn’t control his strength.

My head went back and I let out a little cry but it was cut off when his mouth came down on mine and he kissed me. It was not like any kiss he’d given me before, it was hard and wild.

Somehow he’d lost control and I had to admit that I liked that I could make him lose it.

I liked it a lot.

When his head came up, he immediately dropped his forehead to mine, his eyes closed and he didn’t say a word. We were both breathing heavily and my hands were at his waist, clutching the t-shirt there. He was having an internal battle, I could tell, and when his eyes opened I realized whatever battle he was waging, he’d won.

“Did I hurt you?” he asked when he lifted his head.

I shook mine.

“Fuck, Indy, you turn me inside out.”

I stood there a beat and then said, very quietly, “Lee, I’m not doing anything to you. You’re doing it to yourself. I’m beginning to think you don’t know me either. There were guys but…” I was going to stay “none of them was you” but I stopped myself just in time and said, “it was just fun, half of them didn’t even get to second base. I’m not the slut you think I am.”

“I don’t think you’re a slut.”

“That’s not the way you make it sound.”

“I’ve been watchin’ men sittin’ in what I considered my position for a long time and I didn’t like it. I should have done something about this a long time ago, that’s my problem. I’m taking it out on you.”

I stared at him and realized that I’d spent years throwing myself at him and being rebuffed and watching him go off with every other girl who caught his eye. Each time it tore at my heart and each new time it hurt more.

What I didn’t realize was, for years he’d been experiencing the same thing.

“My flirting is harmless, you don’t have anything to worry about,” I told him.

“I’m still gonna ask you not to do it,” Lee replied.

I looked into his eyes for several seconds and then sighed. “All right. I’ll quit flirting.”

His arms were still around me and they pulled me deeper into him.

“That’s my girl,” he murmured and my heart stopped beating.

This was it, I was Lee’s girl.

And it felt great.

Holy shit, shit, shit.

I pulled back a little to hide my reaction and said, “Can I bring Marianne here? Just to meet Vance and Matt… er, and maybe Bobby?” Lee stared at me and I continued., “Also, Tod wouldn’t mind popping by.”

“No,” Lee answered but he was grinning his “Isn’t-Indy-cute?” grin.

“I didn’t think so,” I muttered to myself. “Can we go find Rosie now?”

* * *

After I tamed the wild, broody Lee Beast in the locker room, Lee finished his tour.

There were three more doors to discover.

Room one was a blandly decorated room with a double bed, a reclining chair, a TV, DVD player and bookshelf full of books and DVDs. It had a private bath and was called the safe room. To get into it, you needed a fob for one pad and you had to put your thumb to another pad and you had to use an old-fashioned key.

Room two was a room with four work cubicles in it, all complete with chairs, desks, computers and filing cabinets underneath the desks. Brody, Ally and my computer nerd friend, popped up from one of the cubicles.

“Indy!” he shouted.

“Holy shit, Brody, what’re you doing here?” I asked, walking toward him and smiling.When I got to him, I gave him a hug. He was a total slob, black shirt, black jeans, black Doc Martens, wild dark hair and Buddy Holly glasses. His body had no shape, defined, as it was, by sitting in a chair in front of a computer all the time.

“Ally told me I needed to get out of my house so she got me a part-time job with Lee. What are you doing here?” He looked between me and Lee. “Oh yeah, I forgot, Ally told me you and Lee hooked up. Finally. Cool. Bet you’re happy.”

I glanced at Lee, the Lee Beast had disappeared and Cocky Lee had taken his place.

I ignored it and turned back to Brody. “You do programming?”

“Nope, hacking, usually tracing embezzlement stuff but sometimes…”

“Brody,” Lee cut in and Brody stopped talking, his eyes got wide and he stared at Lee.

“Yeah, sorry, yeah, yeah, yeah,” Brody said and looked at me. “Confidentiality,” he whispered. “I keep forgetting.”

I looked around the room, fascinated by what Lee had built in a short period of time. It was a huge-ass operation.

“The other cubbies are for searches and stuff.” Brody started pointing. “That’s Kim’s cubbie, she’s hilarious, you’d like her. Her husband is a paramedic so she likes to work when he’s on shift, sometimes seven to three, sometimes three to eleven. Then there’s Pablo but he’s part-time, like me. I do morning, he does afternoons. The other one is for the boys when they need to do computer work we can’t see.”

“Ah,” I said.

Brody looked to Lee. “See, I told her the whole thing without talking about the job we’re doing.”

Lee stared at Brody, obviously re-evaluating doing a favor for his sister.

“That’s good, Brody,” I said to him like he was a lovable dog, which, in a way, he was.

Lee put his hand at my back again, indication it was time to go.

“When we leave, lock the door and don’t open it for fifteen minutes unless you get a knock, three, two, two. Got that?” Lee said to Brody.

“Three, two, two. Got it.” He turned to me. “Lots of codes around here. Three quicks then a long. Three short, three long, three short. Shit, what’s this new code again?” he asked Lee.

Lee sighed. “Three, two, two.”

“Yeah, okay. Three, two, two. Later, Indy. By the way, really dug the El Salvador e-mail, that was hilarious. Where do you come up with that shit?” Brody asked but didn’t expect an answer and then walked back to his desk chanting, “Three two two, three two two…”

Lee guided me out of the room and back to the reception area. Dawn was behind her desk and she schooled her features into a benign smile at our approach. Her immaculate desk top was marred by a gunbelt which Lee picked up with the barest hint of a nod of thanks to Dawn.

He pulled out a flat black thing with two prongs at the top.

“Stun gun,” he said, “you have to be close to use this, take down is half a second so it’s quick. Don’t touch the prongs or you’ll get cranked with 625,000 volts.”

Holy crap!

Is that what happened to me?

625,000 volts?

That seemed like a lot.

A lot, a lot.

Lee was still talking. “Batteries are new, switch it on and touch the prongs to your target and he’ll go down.”

“You should know about those, considering,” Dawn chimed in sweetly. “They’re not pretty but they work!”

Lee’s eyes cut to her and she immediately turned her attention to the computer and I just stopped myself from sticking my tongue out at her and giving her a “nanny nanny foo foo” head wag.

Lee shoved the stun gun back into the belt and pulled out something that looked somewhat like a real gun.

“Taser,” he said, “you can use this from a distance, point and shoot, same result as a stun gun. Prongs come out and juice him. Don’t worry about clothes, these prongs will even go through a vest.”

“That’s a bulletproof vest,” Dawn cut in again.

“Thanks,” I snapped sharply on a saccharin smile with a bitch glare, a combination better known as the Bitch Triple Threat.

When I looked back to Lee, his eyes were crinkled and he was shoving the taser back into the belt.

He thought we were the funny.

I decided not to go into bitch smackdown mode. I’d been giving Lee’s employees enough entertainment for a week.

Lee pulled out a canister.

“Pepper spray. Shake it to make it live, make sure you point it correctly. This one sprays at distance, you’ve got up to fifteen feet. Aim at his face. Don’t do it in an enclosed area or you’ll get it too.”

“Okey dokey,” I said quickly before Dawn could give any helpful hints.

Lee turned to Dawn. “You’re goin’ to lunch.”

Without a word, she grabbed her purse and walked that long-legged, one foot in front of the other, ass-swaying catwalk out the door.

Lee and I watched and I changed my mind again about Dawn.

I turned to Lee. “I’m just gonna say, she’s a problem.”

Lee put the belt on me, shook his head and caught my eye.

His eyes were serious and Dawn was a distant memory.

“The fun part of the day is over,” he said in a no-nonsense voice, securing the belt at my waist.

Uh-oh.

“You’re gonna see and hear shit that you might not like. This is my work and you have to remember, whatever it is, there’s an explanation behind it or it’s being controlled. Talk to me before you react and listen to me. Pay attention and be smart. If something gets too much, too intense, you just say, no matter where we are or what we’re doin’, I’ll take you away. Yeah?”

That didn’t sound good.

Lee watched me closely and waited for me to respond.

“Yeah,” I agreed.

“We’re goin’ to the holding room. If we capture a skip and for some reason can’t get him to the station, we use the holding room. You’ll see now it has other purposes.”